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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta, Fulton County battling over homelessness funding as cold snap moves in

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Atlanta, Fulton County battling over homelessness funding as cold snap moves in


ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — On Thursday, Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens questioned Fulton County’s commitment to addressing homelessness across Atlanta.

“Fulton County is a partner we thought we could trust because this is local, we’re all part of this ecosystem,” Dickens said Thursday at a press event outside an affordable housing complex in southwest Atlanta.

Dickens said Fulton County is shirking its responsibility of paying $4.8 million annually as part of a 30-year agreement to address homelessness across Atlanta and Fulton County.

Dickens said the County is short in its financial investment by roughly $2.1 million for 2026.

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“That’s the agreement. And we must keep them to their promises. Promises made, must be promises kept. Or see you at the ballot,” Dickens said.

A potential winter storm is expected late Saturday through Sunday, bringing the possibility of snow to north and central Georgia. Sunday is a First Alert Weather Day for cold, breezy conditions and potential winter weather.

READ MORE: First Alert: Prepare for potential winter weather Sunday

After the mayor’s press event, Atlanta News First reached out to Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts for reaction who pushed back against the mayor’s comments.

“Read my lips. That $2.1 million dollars will be in the approved 2026 budget,” Pitts said.

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He said the mayor’s comments were premature because the County does not vote on their 2026 budget until Wednesday.

“Anything between now and then is just conversation,” Pitts said. “I have directed the manager and his staff to find the money.”

This issue was sparked during last week’s Board of Commissioners meeting when Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory questioned county staff about why the roughly $2.1 million in funding for homeless services was not included in the County’s recommended FY2026 budget.

Commissioner Ivory also spoke during Thursday’s press event alongside Mayor Dickens questioning the County’s commitment.

“Fulton County should be a partner to its cities, not a hinderance to the vital services that its cities need. And I’m committed to being a partner in this fight that we should be in together,” Ivory said.

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Pitts said while he is advocating to provide $4.8 million in the FY2026 budget towards homeless services, he said the agreement between the County and the City of Atlanta does not require the County’s investment.

“That means subject to the funds being available,” Pitts said. “2027 and beyond we’ll have to find the money, because we may or may not have it.”

Dickens said his goal of securing 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2030 is challenged by a lack of commitment by federal and local funding.

“It’s makes it more difficult to get to 20,000 units when government is now reducing what they’re doing,” Dickens said. “The federal government is no longer doing as much as they did in the past. There have been a number of things that they have walked back in the housing and urban development department. And we’re critical.”

On Wednesday, Gov. Brian Kemp (R, GA) announced he plans to invest $50 million in state funding into homelessness initiatives.

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Dickens, on Thursday, said it is unclear how much the City of Atlanta or Fulton County will be allocated or when those jurisdictions could see any funds.

Fulton County’s Board of Commissioners is set to approve their FY2026 budget on Wednesday, Jan. 21.



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Atlanta, GA

Cancellations, delays continue at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

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Cancellations, delays continue at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport


ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The trouble for travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport continued Sunday as rain persisted in metro Atlanta.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, 487 flights have been delayed and 124 have been canceled.

TSA wait times have also ballooned; passengers going through the main checkpoint should expect to wait upwards of an hour, and those going through the north checkpoint should expect to wait more than 30 minutes.

The airport said, “The delays are the result of residual impacts from two ground stops issued on Friday, which created a temporary backlog in passenger volumes, combined with current TSA staffing constraints.”

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The delays added to a disastrous weekend for Hartsfield-Jackson. Travelers on Saturday described hourslong tarmac waits, missed connections and overnight strandings after storms triggered mass cancellations and delays.

The Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines received the bulk of travelers’ frustration. The airline released a statement to Atlanta News First addressing the tarmac delays.

“We apologize to our customers, as we know that a delay on the tarmac waiting for an arrival gate is frustrating. Delta people worked through severe weather challenges in ATL that drove gating constraints overnight,” the company said. “The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority.”



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Atlanta, GA

Youth, served: Real Salt Lake pulls past Atlanta United to keep fast start

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Youth, served: Real Salt Lake pulls past Atlanta United to keep fast start


SANDY — Three games into the 2026 campaign and Real Salt Lake has a formula for success.

Spoiler alert: the kids are (still) all right.

Aiden Hezarkhani scored a goal for the second-straight week, rookie Sergi Solans added his first professional, and Real Salt Lake served its youth again en route to a 3-2 win over Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Fellow teenager Zavier Gozo also scored for Real Salt Lake, the Utah native’s first of the season after his breakout four-goal, three-assist campaign last year to help his home side improve to 2-1-0.

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Aleksei Miranchuk had a brace for Atlanta, which fell to 0-3 while being outscored 7-2 a year after struggling to a 5-16-13 campaign.

“It was a shootout,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “This was one of those games that was super exciting. It’s a real credit to the group on both sides of the ball. I thought we were really deliberate … and defensively, we were great against a top attacking group.

“We knew it was going to be difficult. But the guys weathered the storm … and we challenged the group to dig deep, to defend our box, and manage the game the right way.”

Salt Lake, meanwhile, has won two of its first three matches — even with a shorthanded roster. The club lost Diego Luna (knee) and Victor Olatunji (eye) to injuries during the same training session before the season opener in Vancouver, and former U.S. international fullback DeAndre Yedlin picked up a hamstring injury last week.

But if adversity spawns opportunity, Real Salt Lake’s rising generation is taking advantage of either — or both. Give credit, too, to the veteran players for bringing along the youth that also include 17-year-old Luca Moisa — and not skip a beat.

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“It’s like a brotherhood,” Mastroeni said. “There’s no guy that’s bigger than the team.”

Gozo and Morgan Guilavogui nearly connected for a goal just 49 seconds into the match, but the newly signed Designated Player making his first start saw his shot tipped over the cross bar.

Instead, Guilavogui gave the visitors the early lead midway through the first half, slipping a brilliant through ball behind the defense to Solans for the clinical finish in the 23rd minute.

Solans was selected with the 30th overall pick of the 2025 MLS SuperDraft by Salt Lake, who traded $50,000 in general allocation money to the LA Galaxy in select the Spanish native.

But instead of signing forthright with the club, Solans elected to return to collect for one more year and the 22-year-old alumnus of Spain’s Girona FC academy returned to UCLA and scored a team-high 16 goals with six assists in 19 matches en route to All-American second-team honors and a program record-breaking third hat trick in the Big Ten Tournament final.

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“Sergi doesn’t necessarily have top-end speed,” Mastroeni said, “but he has top-end timing. When you threaten the back line, you don’t have to have the fastest speed. But you do have to have the right timing.

“You’ve got to make plays — and that’s what making plays looks like.”

Hezarkhani doubled the lead in the 27th minute, gaining possession of the ball in the final third with his chest off an angled touch from Solans before sliding a right-footed shot from the center of the box that put Salt Lake up 2-0.

It’s the second goal in as many matches for Hezarkhani, the 18-year-old academy alumnus who had six goals with four assists in 21 matches (19 starts) for Salt Lake’s third-division affiliate Real Monarchs a year ago.

Miranchuk pulled one back for the home side in the 38th minute, scoring Atlanta’s first goal of 2026 with one touch from Elias Baez from the center of the box to cut the deficit to 2-1.

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But Gozo finished a counter initiated by Philip Quinton and Justen Glad with his left less than two minutes later to push Salt Lake back in front 3-1 at halftime.

After a series of second-half introductions including the halftime debut of Utah native and former Corner Canyon High standout Griffin Dillon for RSL, Miranchuk added another for Atlanta in the 74th minute to cut the deficit to 3-2.

But Rafael Cabral made two saves on 16 shots faced to help the visitors hold on for their second straight win.

Real Salt Lake returns home next Saturday, March 14 to host Austin FC (7:30 p.m. MDT, Apple TV) before a road trip to San Diego FC.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Atlanta, GA

On the set of "Scream 7"

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On the set of "Scream 7"


Ghostface is back…and this time, the call’s coming from Atlanta! The seventh installment of the blockbuster horror franchise “Scream” was filmed in Metro Atlanta, including at Midtown’s SCAD Film Studios. We’re checking out one of the film’s notable sets, which is now serving as a classroom for students. We’re also catching up with screen legend Kurt Russell, his real-life won Wyatt, Emmy Award winner Anna Sawai, and the rest of the cast of the Apple TV hit “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” which is back for a second season. Finally, we’re getting a first taste of Atlanta’s newest culinary hotspot, 17th & State Restaurant + Bar! Bon Appetit!



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